Beige trim and eaves to get some contrast between the roof and house. Dark brown on the vinyl. Blue shutters and orangey door. I would do a wider walkway to the house so it is centered on the door. Remove the bushes in front and add lower brighter landscaping. If you are afraid of color, do the shutters same as trim and a dark blue door.

My mind goes to painting shutters/siding/garage one shade of medium gray. Possibly a reddish/orange door pop, and removing stark bushes-replace with some grasses and softer landscaping that feels modernized :)

If it were mine, I'd invest in a professional landscape design, including a rose lined walkway from street to front door. Remove shutters, too.

If you don't usually park in the garage, try it for a while. Good interior lighting in the garage and a trouble-free garage door opener can improve your experience on arriving home. If there's an entrance directly from the garage, make it welcoming with beautiful art and good door mats both out in the garage and just inside the door.

Are you open to painting the brick?

Do not paint the gutters and window frames a light color--there is no reason to draw attention to such uninteresting, utilitarian items. Let them blend into the background, as they are now. I kind of like the brick; I'd leave it as it is. Do not paint it!

Do paint the garage door a darker color (not too dark if it faces south, though). And paint the other doors and 2nd-floor clapboards darker too (the claps are probably vinyl, but that's a cheap replacement job, and you could upgrade the finish/material while you're at it). Get rid of the shutters; they don't belong on that style house.

Double the width of that mimsy sidewalk.

And finally--landscape! Put plants in front of the brick you don't like--plants with height. Put a tree or six in the yard. I don't know where that house is, but a few open-branched specimen trees--crape myrtle, cherry, redbud, etc., would make it a lot more welcoming.

When re-aligning the walk to the front door, try this concept between it and the garage wall. If you use colored stones, you can use the same color on your front door.

If you use grass underneath, paint the door to match the container colors.

Bring it all together with the same color for most surfaces. Do a Dutch sledge paint finish (which is a thicker paint with some plaster in it). It is applied over the brick unevenly so some of the bricks are exposed. Check out photos of Chip & Joanna Gaines Fixer Upper shows on HGTV. Try to emulate that look if you like it.

I think sandraclark is referring to German Schmear (or smear) technique. I like it on rosy brick, but not so sure for brown brick. Here's the before and after from Fixer Upper.

I second Tatts' recommendations. The brick is fine, just paint the other stuff, especially the garage, a darker color. To me the only problem is the stark contrast.

I agree with new paint; landscaping; and making the walk to the front door bigger. I also would not paint the brick.

Also, add Prairie Style address numbers

Not ugly. Classic brick and good design will stand the test of time.

Could use a front porch that extends beyond what appears to be a side door from the garage.

You could choose something more common for your front porch -- flat, gable or shed roof -- or something unusual, such as an arbor type frame with a flat roof and clear roofing -- or an unusual shape, such as a gazebo style or half circle.

Ignore suggestions you paint the brick. Anything painted inevitably needs to be repainted and, especially brick, will look awful as it gets that way.

Would paint the garage door and shutters a light brown or tan (w/o pink or yellow hue) and paint the trim around the sidelight to the front door and storm door the same white as the upstairs wood siding. You could then paint your front door your favorite bold color.

Your planting area alongside the garage could use some attention. You might consider outlining it with paving stones to create a more raised planting space and then using the same paving stones to outline the other side of your sidewalk as well, widening it a bit.

You might also consider adding to your planting space at least a basic concrete bird bath, painted on the outside your favorite bold color(s). You could also consider adding some shrubs and/or flowers that bloom -- either planted in the ground or in hanging baskets hung from treated posts w/brackets or stronger shepherd's hooks. With treated posts, you could also add solar lights atop the post(s).

Your lawn itself could use some attention -- fertilizer and water -- to get it green. Don't clutter it up with the kind of planting spaces for flower beds that you might not have sufficient time to tend.

I like the pic's posted by decoenthusiate. I think a grouping of tall vibrantly colored planters like those would do one of two things. Envy or replicate. I would also carry the color and plantings up to door by placing one of the planters to the area on the right side of the door. Because they would be in high traffic area's I'd go with some grasses or another non-flowering plantings that don't attract bee's.

With costs and maintenance I don't know if I would paint the brick. Once you paint it there's no going back. My suggestion would be to implement the advice/tips you like and live with. In the end you may decide you like brick as it now is. You could decide you like it without painting the brick.

Right now your garage door sticks out like a sore thumb because it's white. Painting it in a color similar to the existing brick color the door would disappear, giving the appearance of a much larger house.

A vertical arbor framing the garage door, some new lighting and a new front door would make this house a stand-out. good luck

I think you should go more contemporary or transitional. Not prairie, not craftsman.

Remove both the countryish window blinds and shutters. Your brick is busy but if you clean up the things that are not brick, the brick will be just fine. New lighting, new front door, new garage door or painted, replace the door when the budget allows. New wider sidewalk, not curvy, keep things linear and straight. New landscaping.

Simple clean lines of the entry door and sidelight in photo 1

Simple garage door, painted a deeper colour, simple linear wide sidewalk in photo 2

Simple garage door in photo 3, wood might work

decoenthusiate got it right, the planters in the bed beside the garage, photo 4

brown brick is not bad when the rest is right, photo 5

mass planting of a few types of perennials is a good look, photo 6

simple soffit downlights and modern entry and garage lights will make the brick look good at night, photo 7

Do you have any trees in the front yard?

Do as AWM suggested!! Wow!!

It would be easy to go contemporary too, like Bette P. suggested. Your house has such nice lines for it. The manufacturers are making some cool doors and garage doors currently. Google contemporary doors or garage doors for ideas.

I think the dark woods here may be a little heavy looking, but I couldn't adjust the color convincingly. Maybe somebody here could come up with a better rendering or color scheme.

Yes I do have a tree to the side. See photo, not quite in the picture but you can see where it's coming from. It's a crab apple that blossom's beautifully in the spring.

The beginning bones of your home are lovely! I like the brick, but perhaps it overpowers the charm factor.

-before-

-after-

To enhance your curb appeal, I suggest replacing your current garage door for wood with a matching front door. In addition, the trim around the windows and the home should be white and the back part of your home, put siding over. I agree, take out those shutters. The design above turns your home to a more contemporary traditional charmer. Please take a look and let me know what you think!

The keystone lintels over the windows aren't right for this house -- save those for a grand Federal style house in Boston. But the colors & wood doors are nice with the brick, I think.

You can update the front of your home with Cambridge pavingstones and wallstones. Start with a beautiful pavingstone walkway leading to your front entrance and then add an entryway with a porch area, opening up the front of your home and adding additional space for leisure. Consider replacing your exposed brick with beautiful stone veneer, which could be accomplished using Cambridge’s stone veneer. Please go to our website and visit the amazing photos in our electronic brochure. By linking to Cambridge’s Designscape Visualizer you can upload a photo of the front of your home and re-design using Cambridge pavingstones and wallstones. Visit our website at www.cambridgepavers.com